Part-time worker wins cash victory (From Western Telegraph)

Part-time worker wins cash victory

The county's small army of part-time workers could start cashing in on their legal entitlement to holiday pay, after an industrial tribunal victory for a former barman.

Oliver Kingsbury claimed he was sacked from his £5-an-hour job at the Sands Club, Saundersfoot, after he asked for holiday pay.

He took on his former employer, Summer Inns Ltd, at an industrial tribunal. The panel has now ruled that his dismissal was unfair.

Mr Kingsbury, currently working in the oil industry, hailed it as a victory for the part-time worker. With his holiday pay and compensation for loss of earnings, he received a gross total of £660.

Pembrokeshire has an above average percentage of part-time workers, partly because its leading industry, tourism, is seasonal and relies on casual staff.

Mr Kingsbury, who was taking home £80 a week in the peak season and was supplementing his income as a fisherman, believed he was the first hourly-paid employee at the Sands Club to receive holiday pay. He was never asked to work there again.

But he knew his rights, and turned to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for help. His victory could open the floodgates for other claims.

Serretta Bebb, manager of the CAB at Pembroke Dock, said employees were not always aware of their rights. "We can give initial advice to people free of charge and we can sometimes provide representation at tribunals, depending on the strength of a person's case.''

SPEAKING from his home at Freshwater East, Oliver Kingsbury urged others to follow his lead.

"Part-time workers are as entitled to holiday pay as full-timers, but there must be lots of employers out there who don't comply.

"I was dismissed from my job because I was encouraging the other casual workers at the club to ask for holiday pay," he said.

"By winning my case for unfair dismissal, I have not only been paid the compensation I was due, but have brought the issue of legal entitlement into the public arena.''